Joe Dart, 88, of Savoy, formerly of Urbana, passed away peacefully at 12:55pm on Feb 23rd at Champaign County Nursing Home, Urbana, after fighting his many health issues to remain the "on-the-go Joe" that everyone knew and loved. A Celebration of Joe's Life will be held Saturday, February 27th, at New Horizon United Methodist Church, 3002 W Bloomington Rd, Champaign. Please come anytime between 10am and 12pm Saturday to visit and share your stories.

He was preceded in death by the love of his life, wife Mary (Ruyle), sister Beth Milligan, brother Sam Dart, granddaughter Shauna Liggett, grandson Anthony Lee Wheatley, and son-in-law Paul Jenkins.

He leaves his 5 daughters, Mary Jane Jenkins, Wanda Raymond, Shirley Liggett(Jim), Peggy Regan, and Penny Benner and 20 grandchildren: Melanie Knerr (John), Richard Wheatley(Elizabeth), Michael Jenkins(Dana), Marcy Strebeck(Rudi), Derek Raymond(Yani), JD Liggett(Heather), Lance Liggett, Gregory Regan(Ali), Katie Regan, Zachary Benner, Shannen Guzman(Javier), Shelby McCarty(Bandy), 19 + Great Grandchildren: Anthony Knerr(Jena), Amanda Wheatley, Sara Jocelyn, Colby Knerr, Brandon Knerr, Kyle Jenkins(Lauren), Andrew Jenkins, Gabriel Jenkins, Connor Jenkins, Isabella Jenkins, Nicole Wheatley, Danielle Wheatley, Austin Strebeck, Abygail Strebeck, Kyle Raymond, Caleb Raymond, Carter Regan, 4 Great Great Grandchildren: Alexis Knerr, Justice Knerr, Lucas Jenkins, Adylynn Shrum-Knerr There are a few family members we might have missed and many others who loved him and will miss him greatly.

Joe was born March 3rd, 1927 in Ft Smith, Arkansas. Joe picked cotton and watermelons and shot birds to help his family as he grew up. Joe served in the Army Air Force from May 1945 to August 1949 as a parachute packer and a weather observer and technician.

He met his wife, Mary while serving military duty at Chanute Field in Rantoul. He and Mary were married on December 8th, 1946. They had the first of 5 Daughters, Mary Jane in 1948. After his service, Joe and Mary moved to Oklahoma so Joe could go to Muskogee College where he majored in agriculture and they had their 2nd daughter Wanda.. In college, he competed in ping pong competitions and even taught some of his daughters how to play as they grew up. When the family returned to Illinois, Joe worked with a farmer in the fields and they had daughter number 3, Shirley, 8 & 11 years later daughter 4 Peggy and 5 Penny were born. While looking for a better way to support his growing family, Joe found he was good at sales and went to work at Meadow Gold Dairy where he worked his way from bottling to delivering milk over the next 12 years. Peggy and Penny always joked that their daddy "really was the milkman". Joe decided to become an insurance agent for American United Life Insurance company and other companies and worked for over 50 years earning many awards and travel vacations.

Joe loved to hunt, fish and shoot and taught archery to anyone interested, but especially to the younger generation. Many archers owe their skills to the basics that he taught them. He also made the bow strings for most local bow hunters thru Hunters Haven up until 2014 and he invented the slingshot pocket for Chief AJ to put on the archery slingshot that the Chief invented. He was very proud of his many contributions to help bring archery back to a sport for all ages.

He championed the Tom Jones Challenger League from it's inception. This league is for anyone with disabilities to play baseball during the summer. He always said " he had the best job with the league because he got to give out the awards to the participants and see the smiles."

He was also involved with the Optimistic Club teaching archery, Odd Fellows, the Urbana Sportsman's Club, the American Legion, and the Greater Champaign County AMBUCS. He always prided himself in getting new members who were interested in working with volunteers who loved to help others who have disabilities. He didn't miss the AMBUCS Tuesday lunches unless he was at the Urbana Park District Senior monthly buffet! He loved helping the AMBUCS members build wheelchair ramps, build the AMBUCS park play area, and promoting AMTRYKES to those who needed better mobility. He especially loved meeting his Monday and Friday coffee group at McDonalds to catch up with each other and swap stories.

Joe requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to the Tom Jones Challenger League, % C-U Special Recreation, 1311 W Church St, Champaign, IL 61821 or the Greater Champaign County AMBUCS organization, P.O. Box 592, Urbana, IL 61803 to help continue the work he loved for quality accessibility. Renner Wikoff Funeral Home is taking care of the cremation arrangements. Burial will be private for the family.